Thunder report: Ibaka gives take on Rockets’ offense

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While the Rockets studied video and worked to make corrections, Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka offered a rapid evaluation of what happened to the Rockets’ offense when the Thunder switched on high screens throughout Sunday’s blowout.

“They can be kind of selfish,” Ibaka said. “You know, when you switch against a team like them that’s going to go one-on-one, that’s good for us. For them, they are going to take some tough shots, some contested shots. That’s something we want, that we’re looking for.”

Rockets coach Kevin McHale said Sunday that when the Thunder switched, the Rockets too often tried to go one-on-one to score, rather than driving and then continuing to move the ball. The Rockets made 36.3 percent of their shots Sunday. Their 17 assists were just three more than their fewest of the season.

A block for old times’ sake

While the Thunder pulled away in the third quarter, Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka gave the crowd a moment it seemed to especially enjoy, chasing down James Harden from behind for the most stunning of his three blocked shots. It was also a moment he particularly enjoyed against his former teammate.

The Thunder did not shoot well early in Sunday’s game but executed their offense throughout the game, getting so many good shots through ball movement that they made 60.3 percent of their shots the rest of the way and finished with 28 assists.

“Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant … your volume shooters … are going to get shots any time, anywhere they want to,” guard Derek Fisher said. “For the rest of the guys, it’s important the offense is moving a certain way, the ball is moving a certain way. There’s executing. There’s timing. There’s rhythm to the rest of the game. That impacts everybody’s ability to score the ball. For the rest of us, that’s extremely important.”

Saving the best for last minutes

For a game in which they were blown out by 29 points, the Rockets played much of the game relatively even. The Thunder, however, completely annihilated the Rockets in the first and last three minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the third and fourth quarters. This was not by accident.

“We talked about that many times through the last few years and many times this season,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “To start the quarters and end the quarters, those three minutes are areas we want to get better at. Last night, you don’t expect that 14-3 run (to end the first half), but we’ll take it. We’ll take the execution and the commitment to get stops every night.”